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Not believing in a god or a higher power can be hard to conceive for the true believers among us, but the fact is that some people choose not to ascribe to any religion at all.
Or even believe that any god exists.
If you want to understand why they feel this is the right thing for them, in their bones, then opening your ears is a must – and these 14 people are ready to explain why they have no regrets about their lack of faith.
14. It’s not about hatred.
This is usually my simple answer too.
My biggest annoyance is that religious people often equate atheism with hating religion. I don’t really care if people are religious and want to believe something. If someone finds that fulfilling, they can do whatever they want. I find some of the moral tenets in some religions inspiring and I also sometimes envy people who truly believe in an afterlife.
That said, I can’t stand people who hate simply because of differing views. It could be because of religion, race, nationality, sexual preference, etc. To me, religion is just another thing that can be used to divide us. To me, it seems to bring more hate and sorrow to the world than hope and inspiration. I have many friends and family who are religious and are not this way, so I know that the hate comes mostly from overzealous people and does not represent the majority, but still these religions do cause hate and discord.
If it was ever proven that there is a god or creator, I would be all on board with worshipping them or at least acknowledging their existence. Until then, religion isn’t really something I think about at all in my daily life until questions like these are asked.
13. Evidence and proof are in short supply.
Zero proof and the fact that religious people rely on the word “faith” as their only defense when they try to push their shit.
12. There aren’t enough answers to all of the ‘whys.’
At first I believed in God, mainly because my parents said that. But then I began to wonder why this is so, and not so? Why is this greatest being not coming down to us, it should help us, but it does not. Many believers impose their faith, and say that God will take revenge on atheists (I am from Russia, this is why this attitude is not uncommon). This greatest being has nothing to do but punish the atheists? I began to try to delve into science, learned about the theory of evolution, and how, for me, even if the transformation of a monkey into a person seems implausible, the transformation of a piece of clay into a complex human organ system sounds even less realistic.
11. There’s no substitute for science.
Because I have no reason to. Just like I don’t believe in elves, goblins, ghosts, demons, bigfoot, chupacabra, the loch ness monster, santa claus, the tooth fairy, wishing on shooting stars, or any other superstition/fairy tail nonsense.
I don’t make a habit of “believing” in anything. I am presented evidence of something and from then on accept its existence; I don’t do anything on faith alone.
10. I’ve honestly never considered that before now…
Because a god that hides it’s identity makes zero sense. If it wanted our obedience, it could expose itself in a big way and get it.
9. Because women are just as important as men.
It was also used as a tool of control on me for a long time, as well as other women. It enabled the men at church to be lazy and entitled while guilt tripping women for never being able to do enough. Women who had enough of the “serving” bullshit (planning everything, taking care of everything, all domestic chores whether or not they worked full time, free childcare, expected to stop everything at the whim of others) and left church were branded as nasty feminists and everybody prayed for them. Fuck church forever
8. It’s not a natural law.
If you delete all mathematical equations discovered in the past 100 years, all of it will be re-discovered eventually, you can’t delete natural facts and order forever.
if you do the same with all religions, none of it will be ever seen again, ever. Religion and god are made up things passed down further by parents and society.
1+1 will always be 2 regardless if you live in the US or China. But Allah will be not the same god as Zeus regardless where you at.
EDIT: thanks for the awards and fruitful discussion guys!
7. Comfortable with your mortality.
There’s no evidence (and lack of evidence is not the same as evidence)
but mainly,
I’m perfectly comfortable with my mortality, and the universe just being there. I don’t need to create or believe in something greater than it to get on with my daily life. It’s a vast and crazy and unbelievable and beautiful and random and infinite thing. Why does it have to be created by something? Can’t we just admire it for what it is?
6. When you actually do the reading…
Actually read the bible. Was always skeptical as a child but actually reading the book, was the nail in the coffin for me.
5. It doesn’t look much like love.
If god loves all then why make millions of people depressed, tortured, murdered, hated, starving and ill? Why create famine or mass genocide and not happiness for all those you “love”?
4. Concise and interesting.
“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
Stephen Roberts
Edit; Thanks for the silver, kind stranger!
3. No good deity, anyway.
It’s a book written a couple thousand years ago, translated and retranslated a couple hundred times and rewritten to fit other people’s agendas.No one can verify anything that happened and plus no diety would let their name be perverted and used to kill people in their name even if they said they gave us free will.
2. Why is he worthy of worship?
Because God is a fucking tyrant, well the concept of God. He supposedly watches from the heavens as millions of people die from hunger, disease, murder, war, sexual abuse and so on. Religion makes you fear him so you don’t go to hell, where you burn for eternity if you don’t follow his commandments and obey the rules of his con stricting rule. People die tragically everyday, and people have the nerve to say God took them because he felt it was time. So I guess die a fucked up way because God wanted you to? Plus there’s no evidence and people have been waiting for his sons return for 2000 years and nothing. He watched the natives get slaughtered of the Americas because they needed to be converted, watched the Jews die in concentration camps and did nothing about it. He let racism and slavery exist which is super fucked up. I thought we were all suppose to be his children and exist in harmony. Why would a God who is supposedly so loving do that? He let’s the two major religions of the world, in Christianity and Islam fight a religious war that is pointless, which innocent people suffer from their evil doing. Is God just an evil being that we are supposed to fear and obey? It sure seems like it. Everyone who is religious is so bent on making it to heaven, and they forget to enjoy the short existence we have on this little rock, which circles our little star of a sea of billions that revolve around the center of our galaxy, which freefalls into the blackness and nothingness of space. We are insignificant compared to the universe, but yet, here we are pointing weapons at each other that could end our entire existence. Fuck we suck as humans.
1. We’ve done it for millennia.
In my opinion, God is just the name that we’ve collectively used to explain things that we cannot explain with science yet. There’s some things that can never be explained with science (like why does time exist, how did the first atom exist etc.) that’s simpler to think about by assuming there’s an entity behind all the unexplainable things.
I love hearing people talk about what’s formed them, what they think, and how it’s similar or different from my own upbringing and set of rules.
Do you believe in god? Are you an atheist? We’d love to hear your own reasons for your choices in the comments!
